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Newcastle duo regret ref's call

Newcastle pair Shola Ameobi and Peter Lovenkrands both felt hard done by after suffering defeat to Chelsea in the Premier League.

Last Updated: 03/12/11 5:56pm

Shola Ameobi: Described referee Dean's decision not to send off Luiz as a 'big call'

Newcastle duo Shola Ameobi and Peter Lovenkrands both felt hard done by after suffering defeat to Chelsea in the Premier League.

The pressure was eased on visiting manager Andre Villas-Boas at St James' Park after his side picked up a 3-0 win courtesy of Didier Drogba's header and late goals from Salomon Kalou and Daniel Sturridge.

Chelsea's victory could have come by a bigger margin had it not been for the inspired performance of Newcastle goalkeeper Tim Krul, but there was also an element of fortune involved.

David Luiz was incredibly lucky to only receive a yellow card in just the fourth minute when pulling down Demba Ba, who was otherwise through on goal, and half-time substitute Ameobi also struck the crossbar.

Defeat meant Newcastle fell to sixth place, while Chelsea replaced them in the top four, and Ameobi told his club's official website: "We ourselves, at times, were unlucky. A couple of inches one way or another and we could probably have snatched a goal when it was 1-0 and that might have changed the game.

"And there was the big call after five minutes when Luiz stayed on the pitch, which probably changes the game.

Cry and moan

"But we're not going to cry and moan about it. We were beaten today by the better team and we just need to keep together now and rally."

Lovenkrands, who started the match in a three-man attack with Ba and Hatem Ben Arfa, believed referee Mike Dean's decision not to dismiss Luiz was critical.

"A big team like Chelsea come here and should have had a man sent off," said Lovenkrands.

"The referee has tried to explain why he hasn't done that (sent him off), but we all think he should have and that would have changed the game.

"They would have had to play 85 minutes with 10 men and we would have got something from it.

"Even after that incident, we had a few good chances and played some nice football, but they hit us on the break a lot and probably should have had a couple of goals if it wasn't for Tim, who was unbelievable.

"I just don't feel the result tells the full story of the game. We don't feel like we should have lost 3-0."